Green Can be Creative Too
by Hellsonlyrose
Summary: Paige has picked up a new herbal habit, claiming it increases creativity. Tony thinks it's disgusting and a waste of time and decides it's time to put a stop to the nonsense, but Paige has a different idea. Warnings: Slight drug use


Paige exhaled slowly, watching the white wifts of smoke swirl up into the air and disappear like tiny white dragons. Blue stokes of paint splashed out to become the sea, joined by foamy green dabbled by the imagined shoreline. She leaned back and puffed again, fascinated by the white figures that formed and danced for her in mid-air. Eyeing the canvas, she envisioned multitudes of colors swimming together in the ocean her mind created. She could see more than just a picture, she played out the entire scenery in her mind and could hear the rush of the waves, the shrieks of the gulls. Her brush dipped again into her bucket, mixing a sky blue using hues of dark and light. She loved watching the colors swirl together before they became one, admiring each color in their own right, in addition to how they worked together. Her lips curved into a smile as her thoughts and imaginings became tangible art, proof of her strange existence.

Tony covered his nose, and his expression became a look of disgust as he passed by the hallway to Paige's art room. 'Smoking that disgusting herb again… that wretched woman…' He had just about enough of her folly, she was making his space of living quite unpleasant. It wasn't even fun to kill her when she was like this, it was far too simple. It was as if it made her no longer care about Tony's existence; not once had she made a passionate try for his life after she'd partaken in the substance. She would just giggle and hide away in her art room, babbling nonsense about inner peace and releasing creativity. Such a waste of time must be stopped, he decided, as he ventured further towards the source of the dank smell.

Paige gasped loudly when the door to her artistic sanctuary was thrown open. She had been so entranced by her work that she hadn't even heard Tony's loud footsteps coming down the hard-wood floors. Her eyes shot upwards at the man who had barged in, and she couldn't suppress a surprised grin from splaying on her face.

A stern look painted Tony's face as he began scolding her. "Heaven's name woman, the reek of your vice has made this home quite unbearable. Look at you, you sit here and waste hours upon hours of time with these paints while your mind withers away along with it."

Paige giggled and inhaled a drag from the rolled herb, directing her exhale upwards into Tony's anger-reddened face. "Calm down Tony, it's good for you!"

Tony coughed and fanned the smoke from out of his face, letting out a loud growl and grabbing Paige by the neck threateningly. "How dare you, you wretched harlot." His anger only proved to intensify, as Paige giggled the same high pitched sounds and spoke softly.

"Relax, Tony. Today of all days is a time when people can go into their own imaginations, release the potential locked away inside of themselves and feel…happy." The hands around her throat didn't tighten, so she continued. "Imagine you could be a kid again, you could see everything like you're seeing it for the first time. You'd feel such fascination and wonder at the things you normally don't even remember seeing ten seconds after you've passed it by."

Tony grimaced. "You're obviously rotting away what little brains you have in your head, woman. I -am- time. Memories of being a child are irrelevant when time flows consistently and unhindered. Giving second thoughts to things that do not matter to sobered people is a waste of my time and yours, which is something I will not stand for.

Paige drew another long drag, enjoying watching her aggressor get so huffy over something so small. Tony wrapped one hand in her colorful hair and yanked hard, reaching down for his sword.

Paige jumped up, and rather than grab for her preferred pencil of choice which she had sharpened to a point with comparable sharpness to a knife blade, reached around and entangled her hands in Tony's hair. She made Tony hesitate as she pressed her lips to his, holding his head still as she exhaled deep into his lungs. Her fingertips brushed against his ears which sent a shiver down his spine as he pulled away, choking and coughing.

His eyes blurred with tears as the coughing continued, and he stumbled back into a desk chair conveniently set behind him. His mind was wrought with fury as he struggled to inhale while staring at the smiling creature in front of him. The notepad sat back down with folded hands holding up her chin, simply smiling with those irritatingly dark lips. Did she not think he was about to rip out her entrails, and leave them hanging on the very paintings she's wasted so much of the day on? Or perhaps touch the side of her face until she began to age much too quickly or… the side of… her face… or… had her face always looked so smooth, like ivory? The vivid colors in her curls, the way they bounced around when she turned her face at him curiously. And her deep red eyes, currently staring deeply into his as she splayed a wide grin.

"How do you feel Tony?"

The words echoed in his mind, as he tried to make sense of them. 'how…do I feel?' Was this the effect of that awful scented herb she had forced him to inhale? "Uhm…"

Paige laughed heartily. "'Um?!' Seriously?!" Her giggles overflowed, and she threw her head backwards while rocking in her chair. Tony was always lecturing her about never using meaningless words like 'um' or 'err', and now he's been reduced to this.

Tony's eyes were transfixed on Paige's teeth as she laughed. She usually displayed them while giving that evil smile which let him know they were about to participate in a battle of wit and strength to the death. It was a smile that he did not make much notice of, other than knowing it was a warning and he needed to quickly think of ways to best her. But now he thought that it suited her in a different way. An innocent, dare he think cute way. He knew cute was not a way to describe Paige, he had been tortured by her unimaginably on multiple occasions and knew she was quite formidable. His brain, however, was quite stuck on the fact that she looked almost normal. Like an approachable, sane minded pretty girl.

"You haven't tried to kill me yet. Have you calmed down?" Her words broke Tony partially out of thought, and he cleared his throat.

"I feel fine. In fact I feel…fine." He mentally slapped himself. The words he needed appeared in his mind and disappeared just as quickly. How Paige could muster herself to hold full conversations while partaking in a much larger quantity than he was something he could not comprehend. It was very frustrating, though his woes were forgotten as he stared at the girl in front of him.

Paige smiled. "You look very confused, but serine. Ooh it's perfect wait one sec I wanna make a sketch!" She turned around to grab her sketch pad and pencil, sorting through various artistic mediums and knocking supplies to the floor to find the right ones.

Tony stared sideways at the paints that had been receiving much attention that day. They did have a certain glow to them, one that Paige had spoken of on numerous occasions though he had always tuned her out. Without thinking about it, his hands moved towards the paints and he dipped his gloved finger into a small container of a deep red paint. It reminded him of the constant blood that was shed between the two, or the hearts that Paige would insist were in fact nutritious and cooked for various meals. He smiled as a very silly idea came to mind, one that he never would have thought of otherwise, never mind ruining his glove with scarlet.

Paige let out a sound of delight. "Finally! Now just stay like that and-" As she spun her chair around, a cold dabble of paint ran across her cheek and over the bridge of her nose, causing her to yelp. Her jaw hung open in disbelief as she stared into the dirty mirror across the room to see her face smeared with the scarlet hue, giving her a marking much like Tony's red clock hands. Before she had the opportunity to decide how to react, she was even more taken aback by a stifled laugh coming from Tony.

He was unable to contain it for long, as he let out a hearty laugh. He laughed from deep down inside himself, and was unable to think of anything other than how hilarious it was that he had done that to his adversary and she was simply staring in disbelief. His eyes became teary as he grabbed at his sides and continued his heartfelt laughter, which was almost physically painful.

Paige's eyes widened. She hardly heard Tony chuckle, let alone laugh. This was so unbelievably uncharacteristic of him to be so overjoyed, and at something that was so stupid, so insignificant. He sounded so happy, with a look of satisfaction greater than the one she saw seconds before her world went black on the days they fought. She let out a giggle; the man's laughter was contagious as it rang loudly through the house. Her laughter became louder and soon matched his volume as they both buckled over with glee.

Tony reached over to hold himself up with the desk, and slipped out of his chair toppling to the floor. His clumsiness did nothing but intensify the joy he felt inside himself as his head lay against the cold wood of the flooring.

As Paige's laughter subsided, she rested her head in her hands, leaning down and staring at the man lying on her floor, looking ridiculous and getting covered in paint. His smile suited him quite well, and seeing him with his hair unkempt with that look of bliss brought a soft pink to her face. She stood up and moved back her chair, deciding to join her adversary on the ground as they stared up at the multiple paintings Paige had hung from the ceiling. The silence between the two seemed quite natural, as the sounds of their breathing was the only thing within earshot. Almost lulled to sleep, Paige was startled to feel a hand wrap around hers. She smiled and turned to see Tony with his eyes closed, a soft smile spread across his face.

"Only for today, Ms. Paige." Tony mumbled, giving her hand a light squeeze. His light-headedness lead way to sleepiness as the two surrendered over to their ever-creative dreams; smile for smile, hand in hand.


End file.
